Deep Blue Sea
by Mariico
Summary: In the endless ocean, a girl and her friends are captured by a group of pirates.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Since Insurgence of Obscurity is finished, I decided to start another WIP. I'm not ditching GD, but I've had this idea stuck in my head for quite awhile and finally decided to put it down on paper.

Thanks **ozzymandius** for beta'ing.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

**Deep Blue Sea**

_Prologue_**  
**

They had managed to raid the entire village. It was satisfying, seeing the buildings go up in flames. Tom Riddle leaned against his ship, his eyes greedily soaking up the sight. His crew had ransacked the village and taken everything of value. The villagers had been taken as prisoners, chained in the lower levels of the ship. He would exhaust them, use them for labour, and then dispose of them when they were no longer of any value. It was free slaves, after all, and he wasn't about to turn it down.

"Cap." Abraxas Malfoy walked up next to him. He was, Tom supposed, the second-in-command of the ship. However, Tom made it clear that he was the sole ruler of the ship, and that he had the most power _by far_. Abraxas could give himself whatever titles he wanted to delude himself, as long as he knew who was really in control.

"Everyone's on the ship," he continued when Tom didn't speak. "I tried to stop Eileen, but she volunteered to go down to check on the prisoners. I was wondering if you wanted me to go with her, or if you would prefer to go by yourself."

Eileen, knowing her, was probably befriending the prisoners as they were speaking. Tom glared darkly into the distance; why he put up with some of his crew members, he didn't really know. He glanced at Abraxas. "Is Phineas on the ship?"

"Finny is always on the ship," Abraxas said, falling into step easily next to him. Bellatrix had been the one to come up with the nickname for her brother. Phineas, of course, hadn't liked such a childish name, but nevertheless, it soon stuck. Now everyone, except Tom, called him that. "He's probably wandering around the deck."

Tom didn't say anything else. Abraxas must have thought the silence was eerie, as he started to chatter. "We got a lot from this village, Captain," he said. "Our food stocks have been replenished, and we made quite a profit as well. Who would have guessed that a village which didn't look like it had a plumbing system was hiding so much money?"

Tom made a noncommittal sound as he opened the door leading to the cell. Sure enough, Eileen was scampering around, offering little chunks of bread to the chained prisoners.

"Eileen," Abraxas said, a warning tone in his voice. Tom took awhile to let his gaze drift around the room. Surprisingly, the little village contained quite a lot of people. His crew would have a field day; they wouldn't have to work for a very long time.

"Hey Abraxas," Eileen greeted, still shamelessly giving out food. She caught the glare that Abraxas was shooting at her, and she leveled one of her own. "What? You're going to make them work for you. Might as well make sure they don't die of hunger first."

"We've had this conversation before."

"And we come to the same conclusion every time!" Eileen placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. The prisoners, Tom noted with amusement, were looking rather bewildered. "Come on, Abraxas. Have some _compassion_."

"We're pirates," Abraxas reminded her. "Ruthless? Dangerous? Savage? Ring any bells?" Eileen opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off. "Right. Get your bread and let's go. We can continue this upstairs."

Eileen looked like she wanted to protest, but one swift look from Abraxas cut her off and she trudged upstairs. Tom let the door swing shut before turning back to the room of prisoners. He needed to establish the rules before he allowed them to work.

Before he could speak, however, a voice piped up from the corner. "I advise you to let us go. We don't have anything you want and this does not have to get any messier."

Tom allowed his lips to tug up slightly. The girl was nothing impressive; she looked just like a scrawny rat caught in a trap. She, however, was glaring at him despite her dignity in shreds.

"On the contrary, there are many things you could offer me," Tom drawled lazily, leaning against the door. He allowed his eyes to wander crudely over the girl's scrawny body, but to his surprise, she simply jutted out her chin and glared back at him.

"You don't know what you're getting into," the girl warned, and Tom smirked at her. It seemed to aggravate her even more. "People know we're here. If a ransom is what you're looking for, I have some money here, so we can just settle this right now—"

"You have some _money_, do you?" Tom's eyes glinted. Her fellow villagers shifted nervously, recognising the change in character, but if the girl was frightened, she did a very good job at hiding it. He stalked toward her, taking his time.

He was a predator, after all. He was born to hunt.

She was quite short, he realised, when he stood in front of her. Such a small body, yet so much defiance in her…he would have fun beating it out of her. Slowly, he trailed his hand down her face, avoiding her teeth as she moved her head to bite him. He simply smirked at her, and he saw—to his delight—the first flash of fear in her eyes.

Before his hand could get to her pocket, however, someone called loudly from above. "Tommy!" Tom gritted his teeth angrily. Bellatrix never seemed to know when to give him proper respect. The girl in front of him noticed his frustration, and gave him a smirk that matched his own. "Tommy, I burned the food!"

There was a reason why Eileen was in charge of the cooking.

"This isn't over," he hissed quietly at the girl. He expected a sharp retort, but what he got was a faceful of spit. He wiped it off slowly, registering the giggles from the small children behind him. The girl was looking much too smug for his liking.

He moved fast, reaching up and grabbing her neck. Instantly, all the laughter stopped and the room was dead silent. He marveled at how small and delicate her neck was. So fragile. So easy to break.

"Careful," he chided, his voice light. Everyone knew, however, that there was a dark threat underlying his words. Slowly, he released his iron hold on her neck, and she gulped down as much air as she could. He tilted his head slightly, his lips curling up, before turning around and heading back up the stairs.

He had still seen the fight in her eyes. He would deal with her later. He would have a lot of fun breaking her.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The room was quiet.

How they had managed to fall asleep in such a situation, Hermione did not know. But as she glanced around the room, she saw it was true. Her friends, all chained up in a smelly room, had managed to sleep in the awkward positions they were in.

Hermione slowly maneuvered her hand toward the wand holster strapped around her leg. They had only searched her pockets, but somehow overlooked the fact that she could carry her wand somewhere else. In her opinion, pockets had always been very awkward spots to place her wand, and she would never think about sticking it in there.

Hermione whispered an incantation under her breath, and the chains faded away. She thought about freeing the others as well, but tonight was not the time to do so. She did not have a plan for them to get out, and it would only blow their cover if they all ran out like deer in headlights. She would explore for a bit, plan out the ship and possible escape routes, before she freed her friends.

She heard voices upstairs. It sounded like two girls squabbling with each other. Unfortunately, the only way out was up the stairs. Hermione held her wand in front of her as a precaution, and slowly tiptoed up the stairs. It was no easy feat; the stairs were loud and creaked whenever she stepped on them at the wrong angle, but miraculously, she managed to make it up without anyone catching her.

She had no idea where she was going. She just took turn after turn, and somehow ended up on the deck. The sea breeze was cool, stinging her cheeks, but the room below had been too hot for her liking anyway. She walked around, feeling free. If she could transfigure something into a boat, it would be too easy for them to slip away. The biggest challenge would be to get so many people into a transfigured boat without anyone noticing.

Just as Hermione began to formulate her plan, she noticed a boy leaning against the railing. He wasn't looking at her, and Hermione didn't know if he even knew she was there. He had black hair, much like the boy she had spit on earlier, but he held himself differently. Maybe it was the way he slouched that made Hermione think he was the prey instead of the predator, which the other boy had been.

Hermione began to slowly walk backwards. She didn't want him to notice her; who knew what they would do to people they caught slipping out. She was just about to get back inside—something she was reluctant to do; it was so nice out on the deck—when the boy just tossed himself over the side of the ship.

Hermione screamed. She hadn't _meant_ to, of course, but she did so anyway. She ran to the side of the ship and looked over, but there were no signs of boy's dark head. Behind her, she could hear the door opening and multiple people spilling out onto the deck.

"What is the meaning of this?" The blonde boy—Abraxas—demanded from behind her. "Why is she on the deck? Who was supposed to be on duty tonight? Eileen, this is what happens when you feed them. They get healthy enough to escape."

"_Please_," Eileen scoffed, but Hermione didn't stay to hear any more. Before she could properly think and consider her actions, she swung herself over the railing and dived towards the sea. Not long after she had left the safety of the deck, she began to regret her decision.

What did she think she was doing, risking her life to save someone she had never met? Her friends were depending on her to save them, and she suddenly thought it was a _great_ idea to play hero?

However, she was already halfway down, so there really wasn't anything she could do about it. Behind her, she could hear yelling, not for her safety, but because they thought she was escaping. A slightly hysterical laugh built up inside of her; did they really think she was so selfish and had escaped herself when her friends were still locked up?

All thoughts were forgotten as she hit the ice cold water with a gasp. The water stung at her skin, soaking her clothes quickly. She felt numbness wash over her body, and thankfully remembered to cast a warming spell on herself before it was too late to do so.

She searched around, but when she did not see the boy's head bobbing along the surface, she thought she was too late. The ship behind her had been stopped—by magic, no doubt—and she could feel the glares of the people on the deck. Slightly comforted by the fact that it wouldn't leave without her, she took a deep breath and dove under water.

She saw the boy all right. He was just floating along, staring sadly at the device in his hands. She didn't know _what_ he was doing, but clearly he would be running out of air soon. Feeling quite angry at herself for risking her life to save such a stupid creature, she reached down and grabbed his arm. He offered no resistance, and just floated back up with her.

"What do you think you're _doing_?" She hissed at him when they broke the surface. To her frustration, he just looked at her, and then turned away, like she wasn't worth his time to answer.

Hermione let out an aggravated sigh; why did she ever get the brilliant idea of saving him? He clearly was none of her business, and she had just risked the lives of not only her, but the rest of her friends as well. Who knew what the captain of the ship would do to them now.

Amplifying her voice slightly, she called up, "Drop something down." When there was no movement, she added irritably, "I have one of your crew members over here. You might want to get him back on the ship."

It only occurred to Hermione that the person in her arms might not even _be_ a crew member. Maybe he was just another prisoner, like herself, and he had been trying to escape until Hermione found him. However, if that was his plan, he had been doing a _terrible_ job at it.

There seemed to be some hesitation onboard, but they soon got over their disagreements and dropped her a piece of rope. Hermione stared at it irritably; this was going to be harder than she thought.

The boy she had saved was still looking dazed, not minding the fact that he had caused everyone so much discomfort. Gritting her teeth, she prodded him with a finger until he looked at her.

"Can you try to cooperate?" she asked him, eyes blazing. "I can't hold you while holding onto the rope. I'm going to climb the rope, and if you don't come on behind me, that's your own fault. I'm not saving you again. Are we clear?"

The boy said nothing, but Hermione didn't wait to get a signal from him. She let go of him and scampered up the rope a decent amount, clutching the rough surface tightly. The texture bit into her skin, but she ignored it.

Hermione glanced down to see that the boy was still floating along. At least he hadn't gotten some genius idea to go back underwater again. "Are you coming or what?" she asked, well aware that she had begun to sound snappy.

She wondered why she was so insistent on getting the boy to safety.

To Hermione's immense relief, he finally decided to listen to her and grabbed the rope with his hands. It looked like he would fall off, but amazingly, he managed to hold on. The ship crew began pulling the rope back up. Hermione winced as she smacked against the side of the ship numerous times, but the boy below her didn't seem to care at all.

When she reached the top, she hurriedly scampered off the rope and sat down on the deck, breathing heavily. Her clothes dripped, and she stank of seawater. No one, however, paid her any attention. Abraxas was busy getting the boy back on the deck, fussing over him.

The ship's captain was on the opposite side of the ship, watching the event through narrowed eyes. Hermione caught his gaze and was irritated that she couldn't deduce what he was thinking. Was he angry with her? She couldn't even tell if he was. His face was completely emotionless.

"Finny, oh Finny," Abraxas was crooning softly. "When will you finally learn not to do that? We're all here for you. You don't need to do this by yourself." Abraxas patted his head fondly, the way a sibling would.

The girl behind him, however, was not so forgiving. "Grow up," she snapped at him. "He's gone. Why are you the only one who can't move on?" She sniffed irritably. "You think you're so cool, don't you? You think this will make us notice you?"

"Bellatrix, he's in _shock_. Be a dear and close your mouth." Bellatrix glared, but Eileen didn't say anything else to her and instead reached over to help the boy up. "Come on, Finny, let's get you back in the ship. You must be awfully cold."

Hermione was amazed that they could still tolerate this Finny guy. They were obviously worried about him; he should at least _respond_. But no, he just stood there like a helpless puppy, staring into the distance. It irked Hermione immensely. When they finally led him away, she felt a sense of relief.

Hermione slowly stood up, casting a drying spell over herself. Her warming spell had begun to wear off, however, and even without the water she felt cold. Wrapping her arms around herself, she slowly trudged back into the ship, aware that the ship captain was watching her every move.

She had been hoping to avoid confrontation, but unfortunately, he had other plans. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked smoothly, still leaning against the railing. Hermione hoped he would accidentally slip and fall off, but he maintained perfect balance.

"Back to my cell," she informed him, remembering to glare at him for extra effect. He was the reason she and the rest of her friends were here. If not for him, they would still be back in their houses, living their normal lives.

"I wasn't aware that I gave you permission to do so."

Hermione mimicked his position. She knew it wouldn't be the best idea to taunt him, but she did so anyway. "I wasn't aware that I had to listen to you," she informed him sweetly.

Instead of looking angry, however, he just simply smirked. "Where did you get the wand?"

"What wand?" Hermione responded automatically, plastering an innocent look on her face. She was well aware that he had seen her cast numerous spells, but he would have to work for it. From now on, if he wanted anything from her, he would have to put in the effort.

However, he didn't seem all that concerned that she had a wand. She couldn't get a decent read on him. His personality seemed to be pointing in all different angles, changing so quickly that she wasn't quite sure which was real. "Go get your…_friends_," he sneered out the last word, like it was poison. "Bring them to the lower deck."

"What for?" Hermione blurted out before she could stop herself. Stupid curiosity. She never seemed to understand when not to ask questions. Her parents called it a gift, but she thought of it rather as a curse. She never knew when to shut up.

"There are rules on this ship," the captain said. "You need to make sure you don't break them." He tilted his head to one side, as if assessing her. "You'll see that we aren't lenient to rule breakers."

He brushed past her without another word, letting the door slam behind him. Hermione stared out into the open sea, a place that seemed endless and free now. This was probably the last time she would get fresh air. Based on the captain's words, they would either kill her or make her scrub the floors all day long.

She debated about not going downstairs, but her friends were all down there. As much as she loved her life, she wasn't going to leave them by themselves.

The sun was starting to rise up, hitting the ocean water in a way that made it sparkle. It was much too pretty to be sailed on, in her opinion. She took the moment to marvel at its beauty before willing herself to turn away.

She didn't know what was harder: going back in, or not swimming away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Here's another chapter. I have the whole outlined planned out, for once, so hopefully there won't be any inconsistencies.

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling.

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**Deep Blue Sea**

_Chapter 2_

"Hermy?"

The little boy groggily sat up as she untied the ropes and chains binding him. As soon as he was free, he quickly hugged her, wrapping his small arms around her waist. "Hermy, are we leaving?"

"Not yet, no," Hermione informed him sadly, petting his hair. He was young, much too young to be caught in such a predicament. He should be at home, getting ready for school. Instead, he was trapped on a pirate ship. He was going to be made into a slave. It made Hermione angry just thinking about it.

She was especially close to this boy. His name was Lucas, and his parents had died when he was only three. She was taking care of him like a sibling would. Ron hadn't understood why she bothered, but eventually, he too had warmed up to the boy.

Once she had untied all of her friends, she faced them and took a deep breath. "The captain of the ship wants us in the lower deck to discuss some…rules." She tried to keep her voice light, but she could see the worried glances her friends were shooting at each other. She wasn't fooling anyone.

Ginny shot her a look, clearly asking if she had found a way out of the mess yet. Hermione shook her head. It would have been a plan—albeit, not a good one—to have them escape by sea. However, because of her idiocy, she had alerted the ship's crew about the escape route. There was no way the captain was going to overlook it now.

She opened the door and headed outside, her friends filing out behind her. Lucas clutched her right hand tightly, and she hid her wand behind her back with her other. She was surprised that they hadn't taken the wand from her. She could do so much more with a wand than she could without. Besides, it made her feel safer and more confident.

Abraxas was standing at the top of the stairs, looking bored. "You're late," Abraxas drawled. "Put that wand away. You're in enough trouble already."

Hermione glanced at him, but his face was perfectly blank. "Since I'm in enough trouble already, it wouldn't hurt to kill you," she suggested.

Abraxas rolled his eyes "Go ahead." He gestured to her friends. "If you don't mind one of them dying as well, that is. An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth."

He seemed unconcerned, like he didn't think she would do it. And it was true; as much as she hated them for making her a prisoner, there was no way she was going to sacrifice one of her friends. Abraxas wasn't worth it.

"Fine, I can't kill you," Hermione admitted grudgingly. Abraxas smirked at her, but before he could say anything, she brought her wand up and sent a stunner at him. "But I can stun you."

She stepped over his legs, motioning for her friends to follow her. They mostly passed quietly, except some even stopped and kicked his leg a couple of times for good measure. Hermione smiled proudly to herself.

"Hermy?" Lucas gave her hand a squeeze. He cupped his mouth, and Hermione leaned down. "Are we escaping?" he whispered in her ear.

"Not today." Hermione shook her head regretfully, watching a sad look pass over the boy's face. If she were alone, she probably could have made a mad dash for the deck. However, there was only one wand among all of them. She couldn't protect them all, as much as she wanted to believe she could. "But once we get out—and we will—I'll go buy you ice cream, alright? I'll buy you lots and lots of ice cream."

Lucas pondered for while, and then a smile broke out on his face. He had such a cute dimple on his left cheek that appeared, and it always melted Hermione's heart. "Chocolate?" he asked hopefully.

"Chocolate." Hermione promised.

She opened the door to the lower deck. It looked like one gigantic living room, and for a room on a ship, it wasn't terrible either. There were a couple of elegant chairs dotting the room, and a bookshelf at the far end of the room. Hermione eyed it hungrily.

Eileen and the other girl, Bellatrix, were sitting on two of the chairs, arguing animatedly. Finny was nowhere to be seen, for which Hermione felt a sense of relief. She wasn't sure how she would react to him. He was such an ungrateful bastard that she didn't know if she could refrain herself from punching him.

The captain was standing in front of the bookshelf, shifting through some of the books. Upon her arrival, however, he closed the book he was reading and slowly turned around, placing the book on the table beside him.

He narrowed his eyes at her when her friends piled into the room and the door shut behind them. "Where's Abraxas?" he asked. Eileen and Bellatrix had stopped their squabbling as well and were now watching the interaction.

"Sleeping." Hermione shrugged. Upon catching the dark look Tom was shooting her, she felt obliged to add, "He just fell asleep right in the middle of the hall. He must have been really tired," she scolded him. "Poor guy, he looked so fatigued."

"Hermione…" Ginny warned her. However, if there was something Hermione had figured out, it was that the captain _liked_ her snark. After all, whenever she came up with some sort of comeback, he had always seemed more amused than angry. It was one of the few advantages that she had, so she was going to try to use it.

As she thought, the captain's lips curled up, but he said nothing else about the topic. "Sit." He then turned to Eileen and Bellatrix. "Explain the rules quickly to them," he ordered. "I expect to see both of you on the deck in half an hour."

"Yes sir," they both chortled. The captain spun around and exited the room without giving Hermione another glance, and Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. There was something unsettling about him.

"You!" Bellatrix turned around and glared at her once the ship captain had left. "How dare you talk back to Tom! He has been nothing but nice to you since you got here." Hermione met her gaze evenly, which only seemed to further enrage Bellatrix. "You watch your tongue, peasant, or I will cut it for you."

"Now, Bellatrix, what did I tell you about being nice?" Eileen chided, getting up from her chair and walking over to them. "Sorry about her. I would say she gets better over time, but she really doesn't."

Bellatrix huffed and left the room, stomping angrily.

Eileen sighed before turning and smiling at Hermione. "It's nice to meet you," she said earnestly. Hermione wondered how a kindhearted person like her ended up on a pirate ship. Unless, of course, it was all a façade. "Thank you for saving Finny earlier."

Hermione simply nodded.

"I don't believe we have properly met," Eileen continued. "My name is Eileen Prince. I'm the cook on this ship. Needless to say, I'm the most important person on the ship because if something were to happen to me, everyone would starve." She giggled. "They can't cook anything."

"Hermione," Hermione responded simply, shaking the girl's outstretched hand. She didn't exchange any more pleasantries, because she still was not sure whether or not to trust her. Looks could be deceiving.

Suddenly, Pansy piped up, "Has the captain always been so _hot_?"

Hermione turned around and glared at the girl, who merely shrugged and grinned. "What? I'm interested."

Hermione sighed. She loved Pansy; she truly did. The girl was one of her best friends. However, sometimes Hermione wished that there had been a filter installed in her brain. The girl just blurted out whatever she was thinking.

"Yes, Tom's something to look at, isn't he?" If Eileen thought the question strange, she didn't show it. Tom. So that was his name. So simple for someone who seemed to complex. Hermione replayed it in her mind over and over. _Tom. Tom. Tom._ "I wouldn't waste your time, though. It's not worth it."

Eileen turned back to Hermione. "Tom asked me to tell you the rules, but that's boring." She shrugged. "Just listen to orders, and you'll get along with everyone. Who knows, maybe you'll even like it here one day." She looked at Lucas and smiled. "Hey, little guy. Where do you want to work?"

Lucas bit his lip and looked at Hermione for permission. Hermione nodded at him. "Ummm…I want to work on the deck." He said. "With the mast and ropes and everything."

Eileen chuckled. "Sorry, little guy; the ship is run on magic. We don't really have ropes here because we don't need them." Lucas' face fell, and Eileen added quickly, "But I can arrange for you to work on the deck. Would you like that?"

"Yes, I would," Lucas grinned. "Thank you very much!"

Eileen beamed at him, and then looked over at Hermione. "You want to stick close to him, I'm assuming?" Hermione nodded. "I'll see if I can arrange for that to happen. Abraxas is in charge of the crew there, so if he'll give the word—"

"Which I won't," snarled a very angry Abraxas, leaning against the doorway. Hermione hadn't even heard him open the door. He pointed an accusing finger at Hermione. "She cursed me!"

"It was just a stunner. You're such a big baby." Eileen rolled her eyes. "The little guy wants to work on the deck, and he'll throw a fit if you separate them, won't you?" Lucas nodded eagerly.

Abraxas pondered for a while. Hermione quickly reminded him, "I saved Finny yesterday. So you owe me."

Abraxas glared at her, and Hermione smiled back cheekily at him. She didn't like Finny, but she could certainly use him to her advantage. "Fine. Both of you can work on the deck." Lucas' face lit up. "But get in my way, and I won't hesitate to toss you off the ship."

"Don't worry. The rest of us aren't that grumpy," Eileen said as Abraxas stomped out of the room. "Just follow the rules and you'll live a pretty decent life here." Eileen made it sound like the ship crew did a _favor_ in holding them prisoner.

Ginny, knowing her friend very well, grabbed Hermione's arm as they were filing out of the room and whispered, "Be careful."

"When am I not?"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Hermione stared down at the boy sitting in front of her, gritting her teeth angrily. Of all her luck, she had to get _him_? The person she could stand the least? She could even tolerate _Tom_ more than she could tolerate him.

Lucas had been led near the railing by Abraxas. Hermione watched them suspiciously. If Abraxas did anything or even moved closer to Lucas, she wasn't going to hesitate in cursing him. She had taught Lucas to be cautious of his surroundings, but he was still just a little boy. That kind of stuff easily flew out the window.

Hermione continued to glare at him, but either the boy did not see or was busy ignoring her. He was busy fixing some sort of device, although he was using a screwdriver instead of his wand. Hermione realized it was that very device she had seen him holding when she had found him floating in the ocean. It had to be an awfully important device.

Realizing that she looked quite stupid standing there, she sat down next to him. She was surprised to see a frustrated look on his face. It had been quite blank last night, so she had just assumed that it was stuck there. It made him look…_human_, rather than the robot Hermione had begun to associate him with. His mouth was twisted to the left, a slight look of puzzlement on his face as he tried to figure out what was wrong with the device.

It was clear, however, that he had no idea what he was doing. He kept pressing the buttons, trying to get something to show up, but nothing ever did. It remained blank and unresponsive, and as more time continued to pass, Finny grew angrier.

"Hey," Hermione spoke up finally. He jerked his head toward her, a look of surprise on his face. He really hadn't noticed her. She wondered if he even paid attention to his surroundings. Surely, being on a pirate ship couldn't be safe. But then again, she had seen the rest of the ship crew fawn over him yesterday. He clearly was loved on the ship, but she didn't know what he had done to deserve it. He didn't _behave_ like he deserved it.

Finny sort of jerked his chin and went back to his device, and Hermione realized that was his idea of a greeting. Hermione wondered if she had ever met a person as rude as Finny. He was just _ignoring_ her! Not even a thank you for saving his life!

Then again, Hermione wondered if he even remembered what had happened last night. He had clearly been dazed and confused. Perhaps he hadn't consciously thrown himself off the ship.

Suddenly, she wasn't as angry at him anymore. She decided to give him a second chance. Hermione reached over and snatched the device out of his hand. He whirled toward her, his eyes wide open as he stared at her in disbelief.

'_Finally got his attention,'_ Hermione chuckled to herself. She pointed her wand at the device, but then a sharp pain shot through her.

It wasn't caused by magic; that she knew. She looked at her hand. It was bleeding. "Why are you scratching me?" She glared at Finny, who managed to put so much anger in his eyes while still maintaining a blank expression.

"Give it back," he said quietly. "Give it back or else I'll scream."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Then what happens?" Hermione asked, holding the device out of his reach as he attempted to swipe at it. His sharp nails grazed her skin again, and Hermione grimaced. What was he, a _cat_? Why was he so insistent on hurting her? She was only trying to help.

"And then Abraxas kills your friend."

Hermione's eyes widened and she glanced over to the ship's edge. Lucas was leaning dangerously on the railing. One push could easily send him over. Abraxas was watching their interaction with narrowed eyes.

Hermione huffed, shoving the device back toward Finny. She was just trying to _help_. He was nothing but a stubborn brat.

However, she had Lucas to worry about. "I was just trying to help," Hermione muttered under her breath, pocketing her wand. She glared pointedly at Abraxas, watching him suspiciously, but the boy seemed to relax as soon as she put her wand away. He leaned down to whisper something in Lucas' ear, and the little boy giggled and nodded.

'_Oh, Merlin help me_,' Hermione thought to herself. Lucas seemed to have already been swayed by Abraxas' charm.

"I don't need your help."

"Right then." Hermione felt very snappy. She stood up suddenly, knocking over her chair with a thud. "You can sit here with your broken device for all I care." She shot him one last glare—though he probably didn't hear her; he was so enthralled with his device—and stomped over to where Lucas and Abraxas were standing.

"Lucas," she snapped when she reached him, ignoring the look Abraxas was shooting her. "We're leaving."

Lucas turned around and stared at her with his wide eyes. "But _Hermy_," he said. "Abraxas was telling me what's out there."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms, staring at Abraxas. "Oh, enlighten me then. What exactly is out there?" She gestured toward the open sea. "There is nothing out there."

Unfortunately, Lucas piped up, "But there _is!_" He looked so excited. Hermione glared at Abraxas, who only looked amused.

"There is?" Hermione asked. He looked so happy, like he _wanted_ her to ask him about this make believe place. She bent down to his eye level. "Okay, tell me then."

Lucas' eyes lit up. "There's this place," he said, bouncing around. "There's this island. And it has a lot of treasures. There are a lot of treasures," Lucas continued, a huge smile completely taking over his face. Hermione couldn't help but smile back at him. He was so happy. "They make you immortal if you get all of them. You can live forever, Hermy! You can eat ice cream every day."

Hermione patted his head fondly, and then smirked at Abraxas. "Someone's afraid to die?" she snarked.

Abraxas just stared at her for a while, and then looked away. "Not me," he muttered softly under his breath.

"Hermy!" Lucas suddenly said, his eyes wide open. "Hermy, you're bleeding!"

Hermione glanced down. She had forgotten that Finny had clawed at her. "It's okay. It didn't hurt that much and it stopped. See?" She squeezed her skin gently, and winced when it seemed to reopen the wound. "Maybe not, then."

"Hermy!" Lucas wailed, throwing himself at her. "I don't want you to die!"

"I'm not going to die, silly," she stood up and picked him up. Lucas continued to sob into her shoulder. She looked at Abraxas. "I'm going to go wash my hand. Lucas and I won't be coming out here again today." She stared at him, as if daring him to contradict her, but he didn't.

Finally, he nodded and said, "You are dismissed for the day. But Granger?" Hermione started slightly at the sound of her surname. Had she told them? She couldn't remember. "Leave Finny alone."

Hermione gaped at him, but he had already moved in Finny's direction. Gritting her teeth angrily, she stuck her leg out as he passed by. Abraxas hit the ground with a satisfying thud.

She spun around and left him sprawled there. She was a prisoner. She was here to escape. And if she had to take orders, she wouldn't listen nicely. She wasn't going to go down without a fight.

And if anyone tried to stop her, she would just curse them. Nice and easy.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

She was sent to deliver the captain his food.

Hermione roamed through the hall, humming softly under her breath. Surprisingly enough, they had been given quite a lot of freedom. Though the threats still loomed in the air, they didn't do anything to restrict their movement. Hermione was rather shocked when they didn't even ask for her wand, but she wasn't going to just go and _hand it over_. No, it was her only security, and she was going to hold onto it as long as she could.

From what she had heard, all of the lower crew members were generally accepting of the others. She had met a couple of the other workers and found them quite pleasurable to talk to. Instead, it was those who held high statues—Tom and Finny, for example—that made her grit her teeth in frustration. She just couldn't figure them out.

Balancing the dinner tray with right hand, she slowly pushed open the door. The captain's room, as expected, was large and looked rather comfortable. On the far end of the room was a window that gave a rather nice view of the ocean outside. Hermione wondered how sturdy it was. Would it cave in or break during a storm?

A simple bed sat against the right wall. Tom obviously wasn't one for detail. There was no pattern whatsoever; the bed was made of plain green bed sheets and a green pillow. Hermione had thought of pirates to favor black over any other color, but the room was rather green now that she got a good look at it.

Across from the bed was a desk. It looked rather messy with papers thrown all over the place. Tom was sitting behind it, shuffling through a book. However, when he heard the door creek open, and quickly shut the book and looked up.

Hermione held up the tray. "Dinner."

Tom assessed her, and then his lips curled up. "How…_thoughtful_ of you." There was a sneer in his voice.

Fighting the urge to curse him, she simply rolled her eyes and put the tray down on his desk. "Enjoy." Malice dripped from her voice. The more she looked at his insufferable smirk, the angrier it made her. She had never met someone who could get on her nerves so easily.

"I think I will," drawled Tom. "In fact, why don't you stay? Get on the bed."

Hermione blinked, and then a look of horror crossed her face. "_No!_"

Tom appeared surprised, before the meaning of her words settled in. "I wouldn't touch _you_," he snarled. It was supposed to be an insult, but Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of reassurance from his words. Still looking at him suspiciously, she slowly sat herself down on the bed, feeling rather uncomfortable.

Hermione's stomach let out a loud growl, and she glared down at it. Tom hadn't looked up, but she could tell by the smirk on his face that he had heard it. Tom was deliberately making a show of eating his food. '_No doubt for my benefit_,' Hermione thought angrily, but she couldn't keep her eyes away. She had been working the whole day and she was feeling rather hungry. There was a plate of warm food in front of her, and she couldn't even have that.

However, she knew that Tom was anticipating her picking a fight with him. Instead, she decided to try a different path. "What are you researching?" she asked, trying to socialize peacefully. After seeing Tom's blank look, she gestured toward the book. "Seemed pretty intense."

Tom stared at her for awhile, and then his lips curled up into a sickeningly sweet smile. Hermione wanted to gag at the fakeness of the whole gesture. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he said in what appeared to be a sincere tone.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but couldn't help herself and blurted out, "Does it have anything to do with the immortal island you're looking for?"

That wiped the smug look off his face. His dark eyes bore into her own, and she could see the anger swirling within them.

He snarled, "How do you know about that?" There was a predator tilt in his voice, reminding Hermione that he was the captain of a _pirate_ ship and that it would probably not be the best idea to enrage him.

"I heard it from somewhere." Hermione shrugged, but inside, her heart was beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. There she went again; her stupid, babbling mouth never seemed to know when to shut up.

"Malfoy can't keep his mouth shut," Tom hissed, glaring at the table. Hermione didn't know what was making him angry, the fact that Abraxas had told, or the fact that she now knew his secret.

"Can't argue with that." Hermione shrugged.

Tom tilted his head to one side. "And what are _you_ looking for, Hermione Granger?"

"Nothing," she scowled. "If you have forgotten, I wasn't supposed to be on the ship in the first place. _You_ decided to take me away from my life and force me to live here."

Tom smirked. "Being on the ship has its benefits."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me."

"Me, of course," Tom said haughtily. "I see you looking at me, Granger."

"I do not _look_ at you!" Hermione screeched. However, she couldn't help but watch as he licked the remaining part of his meal off his fork, giving her a knowing look when she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"Point proven."

Hermione just scowled at him. "That was unfair. I'm hungry."

"I'm sure you are." His lips curled up, and there was a glint in his eye.

Hermione crossed her arms. "You are an insufferable brat!" Before Tom had a chance to respond, she hurled one of his pillows at him. Unfortunately, he dodged it just seconds before it connected with his face, and it hit the wall instead.

Hermione got up and stomped out of the room. "I haven't dismissed you yet, Granger," she could hear Tom say. She was fully aware that he was angry, and that there would be repercussions later.

Despite his warning, she still left.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

"Welcome to the daily meetings of the crew members," Eileen announced to no one in particular. "Weather outside is fine. Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain and winds up to ten miles per hour." She might as well have been speaking gibberish; the only person who understood her was Tom, and he frankly couldn't care less.

Getting down to business, Abraxas took out the map and spread it out on the table. "We passed through the English Channel today," he said, pointing. "We're making good progress. We have enough food to sustain us for a couple of weeks, so we won't need to land."

Bellatrix glared at Finny. "Will you _stop_ that?" she snarled as Finny shook his device around, occasionally banging it against the table. "You're so fucking annoying."

Finny ignored her.

"Language, Bellatrix," Eileen scolded. "Leave Finny alone. We have better things to talk about." Before Bellatrix could respond, Eileen quickly changed the topic. "How do you like the prisoners? Mine are fine. They do what I ask without protesting."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "You've been fraternizing with them again."

Eileen looked offended. "Have _not_!" The two girls glared at each other and started to bicker with each other.

Finny finally spoke up, talking over the girls. "That mousy girl is annoying," he said, not looking up.

"Has she been talking to you again?" Abraxas asked, his eyes blazing. He had _told_ her not to go near Finny, and she had bluntly disobeyed him. Finny had enough to worry about without her sticking her nose into his business. "Don't worry, Finny; I'll make sure she doesn't come near you again."

"You will not do anything, Malfoy," Tom said coldly from the head of the table. He spoke quietly, but everyone could hear him clearly. "Granger is mine to deal with."

Abraxas was surprised, but managed to cover it up well. "Yes, sir."

Tom tilted his head to one side, his dark eyes boring into Abraxas's. "Tell me, Abraxas." There was an angry tone underlying his voice. Eileen and Bellatrix immediately shut up and watched the exchange. "Did I give you permission to tell her?"

Abraxas blinked. "Pardon me?"

Bellatrix, however, understood Tom's meaning. She pointed an accusing finger at Abraxas. "You told her we were looking for the island?" she screeched. "You're even worse than Eileen!"

"_Hey!_" Eileen protested. She was ignored.

"Oh." Abraxas gulped. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about that. He had just assumed that the girl would find out sooner or later. One look at Tom, however, informed him that the captain was in no mood for excuses. "I'm sorry, sir—"

"The meeting is over," Tom said shortly, cutting him off. He stood up, and Abraxas thought he was off the hook.

But of course, Tom never let anything pass without punishment.

"Malfoy, be sure to visit the engine room before you go to bed tonight," Tom said sweetly. Abraxas nodded respectfully, trying not to shudder. Tom knew how much he _hated_ the engine room. Hated the atmosphere, the dirtiness, and the things inside. But protesting with the captain merited even worse punishment.

Tom left first, followed by Eileen and Bellatrix. The two girls were still squabbling at each other. There never seemed to be a moment when they _weren't_ fighting.

Abraxas sighed, not looking forward to the night ahead. He always had a soft spot for little boys, but he wished he had kept his mouth shut.

He stood up and poked Finny's arm. "Time to go to bed, Finny. The meeting is over. You can fix your device tomorrow."

To be honest, he hadn't expected Finny to be listening to the meeting. He never paid much attention to his surroundings, even before the accident.

'_Abraxas, what was the homework?'_

'_Did you hear what Mother said? I wasn't listening.'_

'_Oh, sorry. Did you say something? I must have dozed off.'_

However, he was surprised when Finny looked up from his device and placed a hand on Abraxas's arm. "Be careful in there," he said. "I'll be awake when you come back, if you want to talk about it." He then gave Abraxas a Finny smile, something that was rare to come by these days.

He missed the old Finny a lot.

"Thanks," Abraxas told his friend. But Finny's attention had gone back to his device.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Pansy was scrubbing the floor when Tom came up to her.

"Hello, sir," she said. Once again, she couldn't help but notice how _handsome_ he was. Hermione had told her they didn't have time for these things, but she could daydream, couldn't she? There was nothing else she could do to pass time, anyway.

Tom shot her a brilliant smile, and she felt herself melting into a puddle at his feet. She was in_ love._ "Hello. What's your name?"

"Pansy," she breathed out. "Pansy Parkinson."

Tom crouched down next to her and trailed a finger down her cheek. Pansy resisted the urge to close her eyes. "And how do you like the ship, Pansy? Is it to your liking?"

"Yes, sir." He was so close to her that she could feel his warm breath fan across her face. His eyes were quite interesting, weren't they? It was impossible to have black eyes, but his eyes were so dark they might as well have been considered that.

When Tom continued to stare at her with the angelic smile on his face, Pansy felt obliged to add, "Hermione's in the room down the hall. Would you like me to go get her?" Secretly, though, she hoped that he would stay with her.

"Hm?" he said absentmindedly, still stroking her cheek. "Do you like Hermione, Pansy?"

"Of course I do, sir," Pansy said. The girl sometimes got too bossy for her liking, but she always looked out for her friends. Hermione had helped her on numerous occasions as well and had saved all their lives more than once.

"Do you?" Tom murmured, tilting his head to one side. It was only then did Pansy realize he was gripping her chin rather tightly, holding her head in place. She tried to squirm out of his hold, but found that it was too tight to do so.

"Sir?" She felt fear starting to crawl through her. It must have shown on her face, because his innocent face slipped away and replaced with something close to hunger. His lips curled up into a cruel smirk.

He looked very much like a monster.

Something pressed against her neck, and she realized it was his wand. She tried to push it away from her, but it was futile; he was stronger than her, and she was weaponless. Her body started shaking, but he ignored it.

"Tell Granger," he whispered in her ear. "You won't be the only one. _Crucio._"

Never before had she felt such pain. The Unforgivables were foreign in her village; everyone got along, so there was no reason to use them. She had cut her hand accidentally with a knife multiple times, and gotten a second degree burn once, but nothing compared to this.

_This_ was painful.

She thrashed on the floor, trying to get the pain off of her. Vaguely, she was aware that Tom was watching her greedily, a glint in his eyes. The bastard was _enjoying_ this! She tried to claw at him, but he only moved away and increased the power of his curse.

The scream jolted Hermione out of her sleep. She had been tired from running around, trying to help her friends with their tasks. Her limbs felt heavy, and she wanted nothing more but to close her eyes again.

However, the scream was raw and painful and helpless and _familiar_, and Hermione was out of bed in a flash, grabbing her wand and running out of the room.

Standing in the middle of the hallway was Tom. On the floor in front of him lay Pansy, weeping helplessly on the ground. Hermione brought her wand up, but Tom waved his wand lazily and her wand flew out of her hand and into his.

"Leave Pansy alone!" She yelled at him.

Tom merely smirked at her and bent down to Pansy, stroking her hair in a loving way. "Shh, Pansy. Don't cry, Pansy. Everything is going to be okay."

And then he cursed her again.

Hermione had never heard something so terrible. Pansy writhed around on the floor, trying to get the terrible feeling off of her. Hermione didn't know what was more painful; Pansy under the Cruciatus curse, or her having to watch it.

Hermione, now weaponless, charged at Tom anyway. She hoped to surprise him and grab his wand, but unfortunately, he saw her. With a simple flick of his wrist, she flew backwards, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch.

Finally, he ended the curse. Hermione tried to pull herself up, but a pain shot throughout her body. Her left ankle had landed at a rather awkward angle, and she no longer had her wand to heal it.

'_Curse me!_' She wanted to scream at me. '_It's me you have a problem with! Leave Pansy out of this!'_

Fortunately, they seemed to have exhausted their entertainment value. With one last amused smirk, Tom disappeared around the corner.

Hermione slowly scrawled over to Pansy, dragging her limp left ankle behind her. When she reached her, she discovered that Pansy had vomited on the floor and was now shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, Pansy." Hermione gathered her awkwardly into her lap, trying to calm her down. Pansy sobbed into her hair. Her skin was outlined with sweat, and Hermione could see some claw marks on her skin where Pansy had accidentally scratched herself. "I'm so sorry."

Hermione got the message. If she crossed Tom Riddle, he would find ways to break her. If he couldn't break her directly, he would use her friends, and she was completely powerless to stop it.

Their only chance was to escape. However, now with her wand taken away, their chances were very low indeed.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Abraxas let himself into his room. He had always hated the engine room, but tonight was particularly bad. They seemed to be getting stronger than usual. He wondered if Bellatrix was purposely going to feed them. It seemed like something she would do.

"Finny?" He called. He was met by soft snores. Abraxas sighed and headed toward the bathroom. He didn't even know why he expected Finny to keep his promise. Finny always slept early. Abraxas obviously wasn't important enough to make Finny change his sleeping pattern.

Abraxas leaned down into the sink and vomited. He always vomited after he came back from the engine room that it didn't bother him much anymore. He wiped his mouth off and washed the bile feeling in his throat down with a glass of water. His stomach was still swirling, but for now, he felt okay.

Finny was asleep peacefully when he came out of the bathroom, his device clutched against his chest. As crazy as it sounded, Abraxas had become _jealous_ of it. It had Finny's undivided attention all the time, and Finny _never_ ignored it.

And as much as Abraxas adored Pollux, that kid was starting to get on his nerves as well. Pollux _never_ left Finny's mind.

Abraxas sighed and sat down on his bed. He was about to lay down when he noticed a little piece of paper sitting on top of his pillow.

_Abraxas_

_I'm sorry I can't stay awake_

_But I'll be up tomorrow_

_And you can talk to me before breakfast._

…_I miss talking to you._

_~F_

That's what Finny always said. And he always got away with it, because Abraxas could never stay mad at his friend for long.


End file.
